Velociped



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

D. E. HUNTER.

VBLOGIPEDE.

No. 414,048.` Patented Oct. 29, 1889.

2 sheets-sheen 2.

(No Model.)

D. B. HUNTER.

VELOGIPE'DB.

No. 414,048. Patented ont. 29, i889.

MEW

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID EDGAR HUNTER, OF SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE POPE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF PORTLAND, MAINE.

VELOCIPEDE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 414,048, dated October 29, 1889.v

Application tiled May 3, 1888. Serial No. 272,633. (No model.)

T all whom t may concern:

Beit known that I, DAVID EDGAR HUNTER, of Salem, in the county of Essex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Velocipedes, of which the following is a speciiication.

My improvements relate to certain constructions and connections between the Inain 1o frame and the steering-handles and the guidewheel forks of velocipedes, and in the brakeoperating devices, and are especially applicable in tricycles and safety-machines; and they have for their object the relief from jars J and shocks to the Inachine and the rider from the obstructions and unevenness of road affectin g the guide-wheel or the other wheel or wheels, or both, thereby enabling easier operation of the machine, more comfort to the zo rider, and a lighter construction of the framework of the machine than is possible where the usual rigid connections are employed.

I have called my improved construction a swing-spring cycle-cushion since it softens,

2 5 avoids, or reduces to a pleasant undulating motion the disagreeable vibrations and jars incident to the usual construction of velocipede-frames on rough or obstructed ways.

Ileretofore it has been usual to construct 3o the steering-head and connections of the guide-wheel with the main frame and handles in the following manner: A rigid fork spanning the guide-wheel has been rigidly secured to the axle of the wheel, and has had an extension or pillar above the wheel supporting the handle-bars. The frame or a reach therefrom is terminated in an upright or inclined spindle or socket held in or to the pillar or steering-head by a swivel-joint, or an upper 4o and lower steering center, either in the steering-head 0r on it, or in brackets projecting from it. This is the rigid and usual construction. Springs have, however, been interposed between the fork ends and the axle of the guiding-wheel'in some cases, and it has also been proposed in other cases to form the steering head or pillar in two parts, with a spring action interposed between the two parts to permit either a nearly-vertical relief or mo- 5o tion between the steering-head and the fork,

or between the steering-head and the handlebar. I am aware, also, that velocipede-fraxnes have been made or shown with a joint and a spring, permitting one part of the frame to yield vertically with respect to the other part, so that neither a spring-fork, nor a springhead, nor a spring-frame is broadly new with me, but by my improvements, with material modifications and differences of construction, I am enabled to secure the advantages 0f all 6o three and to preserve at the same time the certainty and rigidness of steering obtained with the more usual rigid construction, and to avoid many of the imperfections and vdisadvantages which have made the other forms to which I have referred unsatisfactory and comparatively impracticable.

rIhe nature of my improvements will be understood from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying 7o drawings, in which- Figure 1 shows in side elevation a velocipede steering-head and brake and parts of the guiding-wheel fork, reach of the main frame, and handle-bars; and Fig. 2 shows the 75 same in vertical section, and Fig. 3 shows parts of the same in transverse section on the lines Qc of Fig. 2.

A is the guide-wheel; B, the steering-fork; C, the reach of the main frame; D, the steer- 8o ing-spindle, having the steering-centers d d; L, the handle-bar support, held in the extension-tube K by means of the set-screw Z; M, the handle-bar; O, the brake-lever, held by the bracket P to the handle-bar with the fulcrumj oint p R, the brake-spoon lever fulcrumed at r by the bracket S to the steering-head and having the spoon R for operation upon the front-wheel tire, and Z is a mud-guard, and all these parts may be constructed in any 9o suitable or well-known form. Y

G is an inner steering-head,which I prefer to make of a attened forging wider in its fore-and-aft dimension, with the bracketsE E on its rear side for holding the steering-spindle D. In the lower bracket E is a step c for the lower center d, and in the upper bracket E is an adjustable set-bolt F, threaded into the bracket, bearing at its lower end a seat for the upper center CZ and secured in posi- Ico tion by the set-nut f. The inner steeringhead G is brazed or otherwise secured to the some vertical and fore-and-aft play or motion-between the two heads. The upper part h of this outer head H enters and plays freely in the downward tubular extension or shield 7o, before described. On or attached to the front of the outer head I secure two transverse lugs U U', having the conical bearing surfaces or seats u u and the threaded tenons V V, and on or secured in the inner head G, Iv construct the transverse lugs U having the conical seats or bearing-surfaces u u and the threaded tenons V V. On these threadedtenons VV are bearingnuts Wand set-nuts fu. I connect each pair of lugs U U by fore-and-aft links T T, having sockets t t, with conical bearing-surfaces inclosing` and freely fitting upon the conical surfaces u a of the transverse lugs and of the adj ustingfnuts WV. I construct these parts with conical surfaces and adjusting and set nuts, so as. to make and preserve good free joints and per mit the taking up or adjustment for wear in use.

To the fork B, or outer steering-head H, I secure one end of the spring Xdas, for instance, by the small bolt Y and nut y, andthe other end of the spring X restsbeneath and against the lower end of the inner steeringhead G.

Between the end o of the brake-handle lever O and the upper end of the brake-spoon lever R, I interpose a link Q,pivoted at q to the brake-spoon lever and jointed at 0 to the brake-handle lever.

It is obvious that I may make the upper arm of the brake-spoon lever R extensible in any well-known manner t'o correspond in lengthy with the extensible handle-bar support L K; but as that is no part of my present invention I do not show it in the drawings. I may also make other modifications in the form and arrangement of the devices here shown and described without departing from the substance of my invention. The spring X may be shaped or attached diiferently.' The transverse lugs U U may be either formed on and integral with the pillars G and H, respectively, or may be formed separately and brazed or otherwise secured to them; ora socket and spindle, instead of centers and lugs, might be used for the swiveljoint connection between the reach and the pillar G. It will be obvious, also, that substantial parts of my improvements might be used, and a part of the advantages obtained,

4for instance, by making the two pillars or parts of the steering-head H and G entirely outside of each other, instead of making one of them slotted and the other within it, or by making them both solid or both tubular, or by attaching the handle-support to the forkpillar B, instead of to the reach-pillar G, orby attaching the handle-support L and tubular extension K to the fork-pillar H, instead of to the reachpillar G', or by using one link or one pair of links T T, instead of two pairs, provided the joints were constructed to secure sufficient strength and correctness of action; but I have shown in all these respects what I consider the best and most complete, effective, and durable construction for securing the advantages I have proposed.

The operation of these devices is as follows: The parts being assembled, as shown in the drawings, and combined in any tricycle or other velocipede, the guidingwvheel may be deflected for the purposes of steering the machine on the one hand, and on the other may be held inany desired position against the deflections or tendencies to deflect caused by irregularities in the road-bed, just as in the ordinary rigid construction, the power being applied to the handle-bars M being communicated through the support L, extension K, f rigid vpillar G, links T T, fork-pillar H, and fork B, to the axle of the guiding-wheel, for the i construction described prevents any rotation of either part I-I'or G on its axis without carrying the other part with it, or any angular the machine relieved thereof, since upon any such sudden action upon the front wheel, for instance, and its' fork, the spring X will yield and the links T T permit the fork-pillar H to rise a shortdistance without raising the reach pillar G and the handles, and asimilar effect is produced when the rear wheel or the rear part of the frame receives a jar. By slotting the pillar H and inserting the pillar G within it, as shown, the machine is somewhat lightened, the looks improved, and the shield or extension k made available for keeping out the dust, and a closer, stronger, and better guided or steadied construction is obtained, and steadiness of construction is also favored by the use of the two pairs of links, By connecting the handle-bar support with the reach-pillar the' hands of the rider are re lieved from jar as well as the seat and the fork of the machine. links T T at an inclined position to the pillars and the-steering-head, as shown, and under the weight of the rider or -the use of themachine they will take several positions either Icq I prefer to place the at right angles to the pillars-,but more gen- A pendicular to the base or road surface of the machine.

' The brake is applied with the same readiness and Without interruption by any change in the relative position of the handle-bars and the Wheel by reason of the yielding parts above described, because when in applying the brake the brake-handle lever O is pressed at its outer end toward the handle-bar in the usual manner, and the shorter end lo is forced outward from the handle-bar, it also forces the upper end of the brakespoon lever Rforof a spindle and reach and a pillar with bearing-seats for the spindle, another pillar connected with the iirst by one or more links on each side, having hinge-bearings to permit longitudinal movement of the pillars, and a spring, as X,constructed and operating to resist the relative longitudinal movement of the pillars, one of said pillars being constructed as an outer slotted tube and the other as an inner slide entering and operating substantially Within the slotted tube.

2. The combination of fork B and a rigidlyconnected pillar H, a brakespoon lever R, fulcrumed on the fork-pillar, and a brakehandle lever O, fulcrumed on a handle-bar mounted on supporting devices, substantially as set forth, having a longitudinal motion with respect to the brakespoon lever, and a swing-link Q between the brake-handle lever and the brakespoon lever.

D. EDGAR HUNTER.

TWitnesses:

G. F.' KEHEW, ERNEST R. BENsoN. 

